Leo Eloesser brings together a historical look at the pirate surgeon, often as shifty and larcenous as his pirate and buccaneer companions. A life on the sea was not without danger. Injury and disease were common, and sailors held their doctors in (often superstitious) esteem. Eloesser profiles several pirate doctors, including why they joined such endeavors, and how some rose through the ranks. This is a facsimile reprint of an article first published in the Annals of Medical History in 1926.